'One-on-One' - Tonda Eckert has understood £10m flop better than Will Still

Tonda Eckert has understood Southampton’s £10m flop Sam Edozie better than Will Still ever did in his five months at St. Mary’s.

The current Southampton squad boasts plenty of familiar faces that were there at the club during Will Still’s tenure. Under the Englishman, only players like Shea Charles, Joshua Quarshie and an ageing Ryan Fraser excelled in the Championship.

Adam Armstrong and Finn Azaz looked like mere shadows of themselves in Will Still’s setup despite having enough Championship experience under their belt. As for the defence, it was also constantly changed from a back five to a back four every now and then.

Same goes for the 2025 summer signings at Southampton. First of all, many of them were changing teams when the season was well underway. Then, Will Still failed to integrate them in the squad and asked them to play different roles quite frequently.

All in all, Still left the Southampton squad in a bad shape. Tonda Eckert has done a brilliant job getting the best out of the Saints group inside six months. Almost all new signings, past players have hit their peak form in the Championship throughout the second half of the campaign.

Tonda Eckert understands Sam Edozie better than Will Still

The situation only grew worse for Edozie from there. Will Still never cared to turn to Edozie for solutions when Southampton were filling their Championship calendar with draws. Instead, many Saints fans felt that Edozie just isn’t good enough at Championship level anymore.

If not for Tonda Eckert, Southampton would have been forced into selling Edozie. Not to forget, at a massive loss than the £10m paid to sway him from Manchester City in 2022. Thankfully for Edozie and Southampton, Tonda Eckert has understood the 23-year-old better than Will Still ever did.

In his own words, the Daily Echo quoted Tonda Eckert describing Sam Edozie: “Sometimes you need one-on-one players on the sides.”

Now, here is where it gets interesting. Southampton fans are well aware that first choice winger Leo Scienza is a playmaker by trade. The Brazilian often looks for the best pass, scans the pitch for his teammates or even releases a few shots on target himself.

Sam Edozie is a different kind of profile than Leo Scienza. His primary instinct is to take on fullbacks and arrive inside the box as many times as possible. For this playstyle, it’s wise to pair Edozie with a right winger who possesses other skills than him on the opposite flank.

Sam Edozie and Tom Fellows duo can be effective

Using Tom Fellows on the right with Sam Edozie can be an effective idea. It’s obviously not the time in the season when Southampton can afford to experiment but matches like the 2-0 Oxford United won, where the Saints are gliding towards victory won’t be a bad idea.

Despite his subpar finishing, Tom Fellows has a wide range of crosses in his locker. Add Sam Edozie’s one-on-one dribbling abilities on the left, Southampton can feed more chances to Cyle Larin and Finn Azaz who loves to play through the middle.

Larin tapped in Fellows cut back to make it 1-0 on the weekend. Azaz also got in front of a great chance due to Edozie exploiting spaces on the left wing, but missed. The upcoming FA Cup quarter-final vs Arsenal might be Southampton’s only chance to experiment left until May.

Tonda Eckert should keep an eye out for trying multiple players on the wings there, like Leo Scienza, Sam Edozie, Tom Fellows and Kuryu Matsuki. Who knows, the Saints might find a few forward partnerships late in the season to unlock defences and add more valuable points in the bag.